Editing Answers from Discord (Skirmish rule questions)

== Answers from Discord (July 2025 – July 2026) ==

Rules clarifications collected from the '''#rule-questions-skirmish''' channel of the official Eldfall Chronicles Discord, in question–answer form.

'''Legend:''' 🟢 '''Official / team''' — answers from Eldfall Chronicles staff (<code>bubalosoldier</code>, the designer, and <code>meksmaks</code>, a team member who speaks for the company on FAQ/errata/rulings). 🔵 '''Community''' — experienced players and playtesters.

: ''These are informal answers, not a substitute for the rulebook or the official FAQ/Errata. Where a rule was changed by errata or is queued for a future FAQ, it is noted — always check the latest FAQ.''

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=== Attributes, rolls & modifiers ===

'''Q:''' Is there such a thing as a critical Dodge roll?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 No. A Dodge only succeeds or fails. Rolling a 1 on a Dodge is functionally the same as rolling a 16 (the maximum) — both simply succeed, and a roll of 1 is always a success.

'''Q:''' In what order do modifiers apply, and can an attribute reach 0?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Apply additions/subtractions first, then halving/doubling. Halving always rounds up, so a stat practically never reaches 0 through halving alone — once Agility is at 1, halving again still returns 1. (An effective 0 is possible only in edge cases, e.g. deep water forces an Agility roll penalised by the model's Armour to avoid drowning, so a high-Armour model with ''Additional Protection'' can auto-fail — mostly theoretical.)

'''Q:''' Does Poison reduce the base Toughness or the final value?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 It applies to Toughness itself (the base value). Example: a T8 model that is Poisoned (−6) and Crippled (Toughness halved) rolls against (8 − 6) ÷ 2 = 1.

'''Q:''' Do critical hits apply to ranged attacks?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Yes — crits apply to ranged attacks and to spells, not just melee.

=== States & conditions ===

'''Q:''' When does Crouched from Knockdown take effect, and what does it do?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 It is applied at the end of the Resolution step of the Activation Sequence. It does not immediately benefit the attacker who caused it, but a Dodge reaction in that same sequence also won't cancel the Knockdown. A model activating while Crouched must still stand up in its Movement phase, leaving a window for an attack of opportunity while still Crouched. While Crouched a model has: halved ARM, no Engagement range, fixed STK 1, drops a Rider from a Mount, and is vulnerable to being "daggered down."

'''Q:''' Does Crouched interact with STK-boosting abilities?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Yes — because it fixes STK at 1, it negates abilities that would raise Strike (Sentinel, Fencing III, Assassination III, Armsmaster, etc.). STK can never exceed 1 while Crouched.

'''Q:''' What does the Weakened state do?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 It halves Toughness (T). (Crippled is a separate state that halves Awareness.)

=== Movement, engagement & reactions ===

'''Q:''' Does Hit and Retreat give two movements plus an attack, and can its Sweep hit models in the rear arc?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 Yes. Hit and Retreat cancels the Engaged state; the Sweep attack then strikes every model within the weapon's reach, including models in the rear arc.

'''Q:''' An enemy moves into base-to-base in my rear arc (no LoS, no Vigilance) — can I attack back?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 No — you can only Dodge. Engagement is applied at the Resolution step, so without LoS (e.g. Vigilance) and without an Engaged state you cannot declare an attack in reaction.

'''Q:''' Is Agility penalised when dodging without LoS / from the rear arc?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 Yes — dodging an attacker you can't see halves your Agility, but only in Reaction. You may Dodge in the Active role without penalty even without LoS. (If Blinded, or attacked from outside your Awareness while Engaged, you may get no chance to react at all.)

'''Q:''' If A and B are Engaged, can A make a ranged attack against C in reaction?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 No — the Engaged state locks all ranged attacks.

'''Q:''' When can a ranged attack be declared in reaction?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Whenever the activating model is within the weapon's reach (ranged weapon or spell) and in LoS — and as an attack of opportunity if the model leaves. (Re: p. 43, Note 2 — if the enemy would end up within its own melee range, a confrontation happens instead.)

'''Q:''' How does measuring work in Standard mode?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 You may measure at any time (but not while moving), within your Awareness (Agility in inches), and you may measure your move when you declare a Movement. You must declare the Movement before you gain the distance you can pre-measure with — a high-SPD or flying model can't pre-measure its full run distance without first declaring the run.

=== Confrontation & multiple reactions ===

'''Q:''' Several of my models react with attacks against one active enemy — how does the confrontation work?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 Only one reacting model resolves a Confrontation with the active model (the one striking it simultaneously). Every other reacting model performs its attack normally and the target cannot respond to those — except that it may try to Dodge everything. A Confrontation only occurs when two models strike each other simultaneously.

'''Q:''' (PvE) When do reactive Hostiles declare their reactions?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Turn order is Active Player Movement → Reaction → Action. Because of AI/script limitations, reactive monsters declare their reactions after the player's action, then act according to the player's reactions.

=== Spells & magic ===

'''Q:''' Does having an Affinity let a model cast spells?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 No. Casting requires both an Affinity and a Spellcraft. Affinity on its own is usually a vulnerability (and can deny certain interactions — e.g. Affinity (Profane) on the Red Yaksha is a vulnerability to sacred ground, not a casting ability). Spellcraft is on rulebook p. 11; Spells & Magic on p. 30. ''(A clearer wording is queued for a future FAQ.)''

'''Q:''' How does a Mystic's casting stat work?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 A Mystic uses Morale (M) to cast the spell only — not for damage. Spell damage still uses the normal value (e.g. INT). ''(Clarified/corrected 14 Mar 2026.)''

'''Q:''' How do electric spells behave against targets in water?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 They deal double damage against a target in an Aquatic/watery environment (e.g. PW 10 → 20); with Ignore Armor that is effectively an auto-wound, unless the target is protected by an enchantment. (Everlasting Rain's attacks are sorceries, as all offensive spells are.)

'''Q:''' What does Resistance (Spells) II actually stop?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 It is worded against Attacks. Friendly Enchantments are Assist actions, not attacks, so a model with Resistance (Spells) II (e.g. the Citadel Guard) can still be enchanted by friendly models. It is immune to enemy-castable spells and some allied enchantments, but not to healing spells.

'''Q:''' Which protections stop "Ignore Armor"?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Arcane Shield nullifies the Ignore Armor rule of criticals (it does not counter a spell's inherent Ignore Armor). Warding and Protective Barrier (Hieromancy) protect against essentially everything. Seigen halves all spell damage dealt to him.

'''Q:''' How does Charm (Kitsune) work?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 Charm affects only reactions that target the Charm model (e.g. an Attack or Perceive reaction against her). A Dodge reaction circumvents Charm, because the target of a Dodge is the dodging model itself. ''(Reaction-timing wording is queued for the next FAQ pass.)''

'''Q:''' How does Redirect Damage resolve?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 It is not an enchantment; it is almost always used as a reactive attack against an activated enemy. In a Confrontation, if the Redirecting (reactive) model wins, the opposing model by definition landed no successful Attack Rolls (they were negated by your Redirect roll). If the Redirecting model loses the confrontation, the spell doesn't come into effect at all.

'''Q:''' What's the difference between Ward and Protective Ward?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Protective Ward (Helian) is an Enchantment. Ward (available to Sand Kingdoms) is a sorcery, so it can be used as an Assist to help a targeted model — effectively giving them another dodge.

=== Summoning ===

'''Q:''' What is the summoning limit?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Under Conjuration spells ("summoning limit"): you may summon more creatures as long as the sum of the Tiers of all currently summoned creatures is less than the Summoner's Stamina. Example: a Vizier (Stamina 2) with a Golem (Tier II) + Gargoyle (Tier I) is at 3, which is not less than 2 — so no more summons.

'''Q:''' Can the limit ever be exceeded?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 Yes — the Vizier's Temporary Bind stratagem sets one summon's contribution to 0, letting you exceed the limit by one. The theoretical maximum (ignoring Mana) is 2 Colossi + a Gargoyle, by binding the first Colossus under the limit.

=== Classes, upgrades & profiles ===

'''Q:''' Can named / character models take upgrades?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 They cannot be assigned or buy upgrades in the Guildhall — but upgrades can be handed to them mid-game (they have inventory space; e.g. a Warrior-class named model).

'''Q:''' Do same-named upgrades stack on one model?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 No — upgrades sharing a name with Roman numerals do not stack on a single model; put the second copy on a different model. (Raised for Tactician's ''Tactical Expertise''.)

'''Q:''' Does Tactician with Tactical Expertise deploy 10" forward?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Yes.

'''Q:''' How does Burn work?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 You must first deal a Wound through normal means (getting past Armour). Then, for each X of Burn, roll for additional Wound(s) ignoring the target's Armour. If the first (normal) Wound fails, Burn does not trigger.

'''Q:''' What does Defensive Stance do?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 It defaults the model's base STK (as printed on the weapon) to 1 in the Active phase (raising reactive strike in exchange). It has nothing to do with the Sentinel ability.

'''Q:''' Can Unstoppable be dodged?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 Yes. (Note: Undead granted Unstoppable via the Chiyo stratagem also ignore size requirements.)

'''Q:''' Is there a cap on the Soldier bonus?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Yes — it is now capped at a maximum of 3 (errata).

'''Q:''' The Glyphscribe upgrade — can it add a brand-new weapon?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 Per the card ("select a weapon in the inventory"), the weapon must already be in the model's inventory (re-selecting adds an extra quantity of a carried weapon). The Guildhall currently lets you add a new weapon — that's a code quirk; follow the card.

=== Scenarios & scoring ===

'''Q:''' Does tabling the enemy win the game?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 No, not on its own. The game ends when a player would begin their turn with no models on the table that aren't Incapacitated or Dead, but this only ends the game in its current state — victory is decided by objectives/scoring, so a tabled player can still win. This is intended: the game is meant to be about objectives.

'''Q:''' How does the Recovery roll interact with the game-end rule?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 A Recovery check was added to the core rules by errata (Incapacitated models can get back up on their own). The end-of-game timing will be amended to account for this (either moving the timing, or changing the condition to Dead models only). Broken Morale can also end the game in some scenarios.

'''Q:''' How does scoring work in Quarter War?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 There is no scoring in Round 1, and a model must not be Incapacitated or Dead to count for scoring.

'''Q:''' Do Upgrades count for zone control / "stronger presence"?<br>
'''A:''' 🔵 No — those scenarios specify "do not include Upgrades," so use base model cost (some upgrades can be traded or thrown). This applies only where the scenario states it and doesn't change other Recruitment-Point comparisons (e.g. Martial Valor) unless specified. The Mounted Slayer Dragoon's mount (Lupus) is merged with the model for points, since it can't be Incapacitated on its own.

'''Q:''' Which scheme table do Goblins and Oni use?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 The first half of any scheme table (results 1–10).

'''Q:''' In quests where players may ally, is it best to just ally and split points?<br>
'''A:''' 🟢 Generally yes — unless you're playing a local leaderboard-style campaign where Victory Points matter much more.

=== Errata & upcoming-FAQ notes ===

* Recovery check added to core rules (Incapacitated models can self-recover); game-end timing to be amended accordingly. 🟢
* Soldier bonus capped at max 3. 🔵
* Reaction interactions / Charm wording to be clarified in an upcoming FAQ pass. 🟢
* Affinity vs Spellcraft wording queued for clarification in a future FAQ. 🟢
* A broader FAQ/Errata + rulebook update was being finalised in early 2026, with a new Organised Play season (new scenarios, further rebalancing) planned to follow. 🟢
* Guildhall precedence: the Guildhall app always overrides printed cards for point costs — but the app itself can lag behind (e.g. Flicker once displayed an outdated version). The rulebook and FAQ are the final authority. 🟢

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: ''Compiled from the #rule-questions-skirmish Discord export (Jul 2025 – Jul 2026). Official (🟢) answers come from the design/company team and take precedence over community (🔵) answers where they overlap.''